A seismic push in Congress to get President Barack Obama to put the Nuclear “Emergency Pill” law into motion.

It’s been on the books since 2002 but has not been carried out. Now a bipartisan group of 30 U.S. House members are urging the president to ensure that each American living within 20 miles of nuclear power plant gets a dose of potassium iodide, AKA KI.

To date, the only states to get KI tablets were those that contacted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and its only been passed out to those living within 10 miles of a nuclear reactor.

In a joint letter to the president, the representatives write, “If an earthquake, terrorist attack, or accident caused a radiation release in the United States, one of the greatest risks to health comes from radioactive forms of the chemical element iodine.”

Potassium Iodide can protect people exposed to nuclear radiation by blocking much of the particulate that gets lodged into glands.

“Our experience with Hurricane Katrina, and the Japanese experience shows just how difficult it can be to rapidly evacuate large population centers.” The letter goes on to articulate “Distribution of potassium iodide now, before the unlikely event of a disaster, is the prudent course.”

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